A stunning, hilarious memoir displaying Koy’s “wide-ranging comedic talent and abundant wells of perseverance” (Kirkus Reviews, starred). Mixed Plate illuminates the burning drive and unique humor that make Jo Koy one of today’s most successful comedians.
Well guys, here it is – my story. A funny, sad, at times pathetic but also kick-ass tale of how a half-Filipino, half-white kid whose mom thought (and still thinks) his career goal was to become a clown became a success. Not an overnight success, because that would have made for a really short listen, but an All-American success who could give my immigrant mom the kind of life she hoped for when she came to this country, and my son the kind of life I wished I’d had as a kid. With all the details of what it felt like to get the doors closed in my face, to grind it out on the road with my arsenal of dick jokes, and how my career finally took off once I embraced the craziness of my family, which I always thought was uniquely Filipino but turns out, is as universal as it gets.
In this book, I’ll take you behind the mic, behind the curtain – okay, way behind it. From growing up with a mom who made me dance like Michael Jackson at the Knights of Columbus, to some real dark stuff, the stuff we don’t talk about often enough as immigrants. Mental health, poverty, drinking. And show you the path to my American Dream. Which was paved with a lot of failure, department store raffle tickets to win free color televisions, bad jokes, old VHS tapes, a motorcycle my mom probably still hates, the only college final I aced (wasn’t math), and getting my first laugh on stage.
In this book, I get serious about my funny. And I want to make you laugh a little while I do it. I’m like Hawaii’s favorite lunch – the mixed plate. Little bit of this, a little bit of that. My book Mixed Plate is, too.
MIXED PLATE: Chronicles of an All-American Combo by Jo Koy is the comedian’s autobiography and is written and narrated by himself. I knew the minute this came out, I had to listen to it on Audible. I normally prefer to read rather than listen to a book, but Jo Koy is such a fantastic storyteller so I really believe this is the best way to get all the nuances of the autobiography. (And besides, I love hearing him imitate his mother!)
I knew the basics of his life from watching his stand-up, but in this autobiography he shares deeper and more intimate memories and stories. His stories are emotionally raw and starkly give you the picture of his family’s early disfunction and poverty. His willingness to hustle and work hard to make his dream of being a stand-up comedian come true was inspiring, especially with all the racism in the system as he was trying to break in.
If you are not familiar with this “mixed plate”, half Filipino/half white comedian, you need to read this book, listen to this Audible and/or watch his Netflix specials. His is truly a story of the immigrant dream of “making it” in America and not only making it himself but also sharing and raising his whole family up with him.
I am so glad I listened to this great autobiography on Audible and I highly recommend it!
***
About the Author
Jo Koy is a comedian, actor, writer, and podcast host who sells out arenas around the world by telling real stories about his life, his family, and finding his way in the entertainment industry. He has multiple hit comedy specials on Netflix, and his unique brand of humor has been featured on Comedy Central, The Tonight Show, and Chelsea Lately. In 2018, Jo received the “Stand-Up Comedian of the Year” award at the legendary Just for Laughs Comedy Festival in Montreal, and the previous year he reached number-one on the Billboard Charts for his standup album, “Live from Seattle.” In 2019 in Honolulu, Jo broke the record for the most tickets sold by a single artist at 23,000 with his eleven sold-out shows at the Neal S. Blaisdell Concert Hall, inspiring the mayor to proclaim November 24 “Jo Koy Day.” Jo currently lives in Los Angeles with his son, Joe Jr., who inspires him to be a better performer, father, and man every single day.
Publisher : Beck and Branch Publishers (February 8, 2021)
Publication date : February 8, 2021
Hi, everyone!
Today I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for a new action adventure retelling of a well known legend – KING ROBIN by M.A. Moss.
Below you will find a book description, my book review and an about the author section. Enjoy!
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Book Description
Robin Hood meets Game of Thrones: “He robbed the rich and gave to the poor… until he became king.” In this adult-rated, action packed saga, the beloved rogue of Sherwood Forest triumphs over the ruthless Prince John and takes the throne – only to become a tyrant himself.
Maid Marian, Friar Tuck, Little John, King Richard and the legend’s other characters are complex figures alive with raw passions, dark impulses and ribald humor.
KING ROBIN by R.A. Moss is a new fictional retelling of the legend of Robin Hood and his Merry Men. This retelling of the legend gives the reader an overview of his entire life with an alternative version of his life in later years as he becomes the King of England.
Robert Webber grew up and lives with his mother and grandfather is a cottage outside of Nottingham. He has been the recipient of a good education and the family has lived a comfortable life, due to a secret, that is not so secret, but is never discussed. Anna Webber has raised her son to believe in honor and fairness to all no matter their station in life.
When he becomes of age, he accompanies the local baron to London to petition the King. He is awed by the city and Prince Richard, but he will also learn of the treachery and back-stabbing in the royal court. As he follows the prince he learns of the imperfections of humans, no matter the rank.
When Richard goes on Crusade, Robert is situated in a position by Richard to be the moral conscious to offset his younger brother, John’s cruel intentions. This begins the legend and gathering of the Merry Men and his alias as Robin Hood.
I enjoyed this retelling of the legend. The author’s writing pulled me into the life of Robert Webber with all the action, intrigue and the realistic character arc from idealistic youth to becoming the ruler he fought against. He did a good job of bringing the Merry Men together and made them more realistic and human, also. I liked the portrayal of Marion as a female with as much influence, power and courage as any of Robin’s men, but I had a big problem with the inserted explicit scenes of oral sex. I felt they were unnecessary, too frequent and for that time in history not probable. This story is an excellent read as a morality tale of the corruption that power brings and should focus on that, not gratuitous sex scenes disguised as romance.
This is an enjoyable action adventure retelling of a legend with a morality tale woven into the story.
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About the Author
I earned my keep as a writer long before penning KING ROBIN, a journey into a new genre which I’m excited to share. Under my birth name, I’ve authored four novels in other genres that earned accolades from Library Journal, Publishers Weekly, and USA Today. Along with being a presenter at book festivals and author conferences in Arkansas, California, Ohio and Wisconsin, my work has been featured nationwide on TV, radio and publications in print and on the web.
Today is my turn on the Partners In Crime Virtual Book Tour. I am excited to be sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for TORTURED WITH LOVE: The True Crime Romance of the Lonely Hearts Killers by J.T. Hunter.
Below you will find a book synopsis, my book review, an excerpt from the book, the author’s bio and social media links and a Rafflecopter giveaway. Enjoy!
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Book Synopsis
What is the price of passion? What is the power of love?
Meet Martha Beck, a young nurse dedicated to healing others, until her own hurting heart lured her down a darker path. Loneliness led her to Raymond Fernandez, but love led her all the way to the electric chair.
This is the tragic story of the Lonely Heart Killers.
Genre: True Crime Published by: JT Hunter Publication Date: May 15th 2020 Number of Pages: 210 ISBN: 9798646112720 Purchase Links:Amazon | Goodreads
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My Book Review
RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars
TORTURED WITH LOVE: The True Crime Romance of the Lonely Hearst Killers by J.T. Hunter is a true crime story of a couple who ranked fourth on Time magazine’s list of Top 10 Crime Duos in U.S. history. Their crime spree occurred in the 1940’s and while it may seem somewhat tame compared to some of our current atrocities, it was the sensation of its time.
Martha Beck was a young nurse and mother in Pensacola, Florida. Divorced and lonely, her best friend encourages her to sign up with a lonely hearts correspondence club which was popular in the 1940’s and 50’s. Her letter is answered by a suave suitor named Ray from New York City.
Raymond “Ray” Fernandez came to America from Spain leaving his wife and four children behind. Having trouble keeping a job, he begins to scam wealthy women he corresponds with through the lonely hearts correspondence clubs. He meets Martha and while he walks away, Martha cannot let him go and will go to any lengths to keep his love.
Ray and Martha set out scamming and then ultimately moving on to murdering the women Ray makes fall in love with him to acquire all their assets. Dubbed by the press as the “Lonely Heart Killers” they are captured and continue to declare their love for each other all the way to the electric chair.
I had never heard of this couple in my true crime reading and was very interested in learning more. I am especially interested in these stories that have a couple committing murders to learn about the psychology of the couple. There are so many variables and I always wonder if they never met, if there would have been no crimes. The period of the 1940’s is brought to life and I found the author did a great job of displaying the differences in our mores and moral judgements then and now. This is the second book I have read by this author and I enjoy his clean and uncluttered style of writing while still providing a story that keeps you turning the pages.
I can highly recommend this true crime book and author!
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Excerpt
ONE
On an otherwise mundane March day, a peculiar piece of paper arrived in Martha Beck’s office mailbox. It came with the usual medical correspondence and junk mail, giving no indication of its importance. Yet, this one particular envelope would change Martha’s life forever.
The envelope arrived on a cool afternoon, the temperature hovering just below 60, the highest it had climbed all day in the Pensacola area of the Florida Panhandle. But Martha was not in the mood to enjoy the weather. She was still down in the dumps about her recently finalized divorce from Alfred Beck, a Pensacola bus driver who had married her when she was six months pregnant with another man’s child. Although she had been separated from Alfred since May 1945, nearly two years earlier, the formal entry of their divorce had the nearly 27-year-old Martha feeling like an old maid doomed to live out the rest of her life alone.
Martha was not unique in that respect in post-World War II America. With well over a million more women than men, the United States population of the mid and late 1940’s left many lonely women in its wake.
A visit from Elizabeth Swanson, one of the nurses she supervised at the Crippled Children’s Home, temporarily distracted Martha from feeling sorry for herself. She considered Elizabeth her closest friend. When Elizabeth knocked on her office door, Martha had just started going through the mail. As the two engaged in the latest gossip and friendly chit-chat, Martha resumed sorting through the assortment of envelopes. The first was an advertisement from a Jacksonville company selling medical equipment. She quickly flipped past it as well as a few other pieces of junk mail until a mysterious envelope caught her eye. It was made of thin, pale-brown paper with the name, Mrs. Martha Jule Beck, typed prominently on the front.
“What’s this?” she asked, the question directed more to herself than her friend.
“What is what?” Elizabeth replied, sipping from a mug of coffee.
“This . . . this odd envelope,” Martha said, holding it up to show her.
“Beat’s me,” Elizabeth remarked coyly. “I wonder who sent you that.”
“I’m sure I don’t know,” Martha remarked, her curiosity now piqued. She turned the envelope over to inspect it further, and seeing nothing hinting at its contents, opened it to find a thin, paper pamphlet inside. It was a promotional mailing and application for the Standard Correspondence Club, one of many “lonely hearts clubs” operating across the country. The return address gave Standard’s location as Grave Lake, Illinois.
LONELY?, the pamphlet asked in large, bold letters, Let us help you findthat certain someone. Join old reliable Club, 50 years of dependable, confidentialservice. Correspondents most everywhere seeking congenial mates, provenresults. Interesting photos, descriptions FREE. There were several pictures of women spaced throughout the page, each next to a testimonial about a happy marriage brought about by contacts made through the club.
“Now why on earth would they send this to me?” Martha wondered aloud, taking a little offense that such a “lovelorn club” would be contacting her.
Elizabeth’s coyness now morphed into a broad grin that spread across her face.
“Now why on earth would they send this to me?” Martha wondered aloud, “I have a confession to make,” Elizabeth said as she started giggling. “I wrote the club and asked them to send you information and an application.”
Martha studied her friend’s face, deciding whether she was serious.
“Whatever for?” she asked in a tone matching the astonishment in her eyes.
Still giggling, Elizabeth moved to a chair closer to Martha and sat down beside her.
“I originally did it as a joke,” she explained, “but the more I thought about it, the more I decided that you should give it a try. Three of my daughters are writing to me that they have met men through this correspondence club, and this is the very same club that I met my husband through thirty years ago. And after all, what do you have to lose?”
Martha rolled her eyes.
“I may be a little lonely,” she acknowledged, “but I’m not THAT desperate.”
She glared with some annoyance at Elizabeth. “I swear, sometimes I really wonder what’s going on in that head of yours.”
Martha tossed the pamphlet onto a pile of papers stacked on the side of her desk and made no more mention of it for the rest of their time together. But the seeds of intrigue had already been planted in her mind.
Later, after Elizabeth had left, Martha retrieved the discarded pamphlet and read it more closely. Part of the pamphlet contained a form asking her to fill out information about herself and write a letter detailing what kind of men she would like to meet. Sitting down at her desk, she carefully completed the form and took her time crafting the letter, being sure to mention how people often commented that she was witty, vivacious, and oozed personality. She also emphasized that she was a trained nurse with her own pleasant apartment. When she was satisfied with what she had written, Martha carefully folded the papers, enclosed $5.00 for the required membership fee, and licked the envelope to seal it. That evening, she dropped it in a mailbox on her way home from work.
*****
Years later, when asked whether she had experienced any misgivings about joining a lonely hearts club, Martha candidly replied, “Yes, as soon as I’d put the letter in the mailbox, I began thinking I’d made a mistake.”
Questioned about what kind of man she hoped to meet through the club, Martha took a little more time before answering.
“Well, I don’t know,” she confessed. “I guess I hadn’t thought about it much.
But I sure didn’t think I’d ever meet anyone like Ray.”
***Excerpt from Tortured With Love by J.T. Hunter. Copyright 2020 by J.T. Hunter. Reproduced with permission from J.T. Hunter. All rights reserved.
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Author Bio
JT Hunter is a true crime writer with over fifteen years of experience as a lawyer, including criminal law and appeals. He also has significant training in criminal investigation techniques. He enjoys being a college professor teaching fiction and nonfiction to his creative writing students.
Sharing something a little bit different today. This Thursday, July 23rd at 8 PM EST you are invited to a Harlequin Facebook Movie Watch Party.
Below is an about the book section, an about the author section and the author’s social media links. Come and join the Christmas in July fun!
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About HIS COUNTRY CINDERELLA
Hold on to your Stetsons! A reliable source tells me that Zane Gunther is hiding out in Thunder Canyon. Now the tweets and texts are flying about the music legend and a certain single mom who’s having trouble making ends meet Zane came to the Montana mountain town to escape the paparazzi and a tragedy he can’t forget. But keeping a low profile seems next to impossible, especially once he falls hard for local girl Jeannette Williams.
Is this cowboy looking to make a home in Thunder Canyon? Stay tuned, loyal readers, to see if Zane is getting ready to propose to the widowed waitress who’s already gaga over him by crooning a love song straight from his heart.
Award-winning author Karen Rose Smith lives in Pennsylvania and has sold over 80 novels since 1991. Her romances have made both the USA TODAY list and the Amazon Contemporary Romance Bestseller list. Believing in the power of love, she envisions herself writing relationship novels and mysteries for a long time to come! Readers can e-mail Karen at www.karenrosesmith.com or follow her on Twitter @karenrosesmith and on Facebook.
Today is my turn on the Back to Reality Audio Blog Tour. I am excited to share my Feature Post and Audiobook Review.
Below you will find a book blurb, my audiobook review and the authors’s info. Enjoy!
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Book Blurb
Jo’s world is about to
change forever, and it’s about time
Her marriage is on
auto-pilot, daughter hates her, job sucks and it’s not even Tuesday.
As Jo’s life implodes, a
freak event hurls her back to ‘90s
Los Angeles where, in a parallel universe, she’s about to hit the big time as a rock star.
Jo has to choose between
her dreams and her family in an adventure that propels her from London to Hollywood
then Glastonbury, the world’s greatest music festival.
Jo encounters a
disgraced guru, a movie star with a fetish for double-decker buses, and the
biggest pop star in the world… who just happens to want to kill her.
Back to Reality is a funny, heartwarming story about second
chances, with a heroine to rival Bridget Jones and the rock n roll nostalgia of
Keith A Pearson.
The novel from the Bestseller Experiment podcast presenters Mark Stay and Mark Desvaux. The Two Marks went to more gigs in the ’90s than in any other decade and are currently working on a time machine to see Prince in concert.
“Like if Nick Hornby wrote a time travel, body
swap adventure!”—New York Times bestselling author Mimi Strong
“Everything the world loves about British
comedy. For those who wished Simon Pegg wrote novels, you now have the Two
Marks.”—USA Today bestselling author Shannon Mayer
“Written with an authentic touch and plenty of
good humour. A tough book to put down.”—Mark Dawson, USA Today
bestselling author of the million-selling John Milton series
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My Audiobook Review
RATING: 5 out of 5 Stars
BACK TO REALITY by Mark Stay and Mark Oliver is a
unique time-travel/parallel universe fiction story and it is a humorous and heartwarming
story of second chances. I listened to and enjoyed the audiobook and I felt Kim
Bretton did an amazing job as the narrator.
Jo is not satisfied with her life and it is about to change
forever.
A freak event hurls her back to Los Angeles in the 1990’s
where in a parallel universe she is about to hit it big as a rock star.
Jo will now have to choose between her dreams and her family
as she travels through her crazy new reality.
This is one of the most entertaining audiobooks that I have listened to and it is very difficult to describe without giving anything away. This audiobook has a wonderful and relatable main character who I just could not help but laugh with and feel for. The plot is fast-paced and filled with secondary characters that were crazy and yet believable. The authors had me feeling like I was back in the 90’s. I really enjoyed the dry British humor and Kim Bretton’s narration.
I highly recommend this audiobook. It is unique, fun and
something really different!
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Author Info
Mark Stay co-wrote the screenplay for Robot Overlords which became a movie with Sir Ben Kingsley and Gillian Anderson, and premiered at the 58th London Film Festival. Author of the fantasy novel The End of Magic, he is also co-presenter of the Bestseller Experiment podcast and worked in bookselling and publishing for over twenty-five years. He lives in Kent, England, with his family and a trio of retired chickens. He blogs and humblebrags over at markstaywrites.com
Author Info
Mark Desvaux writes fiction as Mark Oliver. He also authors inspirational non-fiction and online courses, and is a professional speaker in the fields of self-development and spiritual growth. He is chairman and co-founder of the charity Foodshare. As a bestselling recording artist (Urban Myth Club), Mark’s two critically-acclaimed albums have led to appearances at festivals such as Glastonbury (which he tries to mention on every podcast). He lives on Vancouver Island with his family, surrounded by the beautiful mountains and seas, with chickens, bees and very tall trees.
INDIANAPOLIS: The True Story of the Worst Sea Disaster in U.S. Naval History and the Fifty-Year-Fight to Exonerate an Innocent Man by Lynn Vincent and Sara Vladic is one of the most engrossing and riveting nonfiction books I have read. I enjoy reading nonfiction books set during WWII because I truly do believe they were written about an extraordinary generation. This book not only vividly describes the history of the Indianapolis’ war service, sinking and the five days of terror in the sea waiting for rescue, but continues with the survivors’ fight to clear their Captain’s record.
The Indianapolis was a historic ship that had seen major battles in the Pacific, survived to be repaired after a kamikaze attack, delivered the first atomic bomb to the Air Force to be dropped on Hiroshima and then was sunk by a Japanese submarine just after midnight on July 30, 1945. The night began with 1,195 men going about their duties or off-duty past-times. It is estimated that approximately 300 men went down with the ship with the remainder entering the sea. When the survivors were accidentally spotted from the air and rescued, only 316 men lived. The description of burns, dehydration, delirium, drowning and sharks had me in tears several times.
This was an extremely well documented and researched book. From the survivor’s firsthand accounts, naval documents, and previous historical books on this subject. The two authors interweave two timelines, one beginning in 1945 that takes you back to the ship and one that begins in the 1990’s that centers on the fight for justice for Captain McVay. I could not put this book down and I could vividly mentally picture every paragraph past and present.
I HIGHLY recommend this book!
(After reading this book, I watched the documentary USS Indianapolis: The Legacy on Amazon Prime. It was made by the authors of this book and was told in the first person by the survivor’s. It brought faces to the names I read about in the book. Extremely emotional.)
